What I'm going to suggest first here is probably a horrible thing to do to
a perfectly lovely poem, on the one hand; but, on the other, it is, perhaps,
a way of explicating it and, at the same time, illustrating how we use
punctuation to make meaning. William
Carlos Williams, a 20th Century American poet (and physician) wrote
a moving and descriptive poem that captures the essentially existential
message embodied in the painting "Landscape with the Fall of Icarus," a
work completed circa 1558 by the Dutch painter Pieter
Bruegel the Elder (1525?-1569).

Williams punctuates the poem only by use of a few capital letters, an
apostrophe to indicate possession, and by the arrangement of the lines.
However, formatted and punctuated differently, the poem could be used as
a descriptive caption under a reprint of the painting in an art history
book. And that's what I'd like you and a couple partners to do.

First, it would help to know something about the Icarus myth, so read a short version of the story about Daedalus and his son Icarus by following link to the Greek Myths & Greek Mythology, and read a somewhat more in-depth version of the story of Daedalus and Icarus at Myth Man's Greek Mythology Today web site. Like most versions of Greek myths we read today, these vary slightly. Give some thought to why that is the case because we will discuss that topic briefly in class.

After you are familiar with the myth, come back to this page and study
Bruegel's painting below; contemplate what the painting says about
the nature of myths in the everyday world.

On a "Microsoft Word" document with your name or names at the top, answer these three questions:

Paragraph 1, a summary: What did Icarus do? Write a paragraph which summarizes the myth as if you are telling it to someone who does not know it.

Paragraph 2, critical interpretation:

Critical interpretation question 1: In itshistorical context, what was the message or moral of the Icarus story? It might help to know what the word "hubris" means in its original historical context, not just as it is used today, because most scholars agree that hubris was the boy's downfall. Historically, "hubris" does not mean simply arrogance, nor does it connote disobedience to a parent.

Critical interpretation question 2: What does this painting by Brueghel say about the nature of myths in the everyday world? Answer in a few sentences.

Task 3, reformatting and editing: Finally, highlight the text of the poem to copy it (right click your mouse button); then
paste the poem into an M.S. Word document. Without rewording it in any way, refomat
the poem into grammatically complete prose sentences and punctuate them correctly so that it describes
the painting and conveys its meaning as would a description of the painting in an art history book. Double space the whole document.